A vigorous upper level trough with an associated strong Pacific cold front brought strong surface winds to far west Texas during the late afternoon and early evening hours. Windows were broken and power poles were knocked down in the El Paso area.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS EPZ wrote it up.
A vigorous upper level trough with an associated strong Pacific cold front brought strong surface winds to far west Texas during the late afternoon and early evening hours. Windows were broken and power poles were knocked down in the El Paso area.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS El Paso, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 27, 2:43 PM MST, 4 hours 21 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM 243 PM MST THU DEC 27 2007 .SYNOPSIS... A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE AWAY FROM THE AREA OVERNIGHT...WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS DECREASING IN RESPONSE. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN ABOUT 10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL FRIDAY AND WARM UP SOMEWHAT ON SATURDAY. BY SUNDAY A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL SWING DAYTIME TEMPERATURES BACK TO ABOVE NORMAL...ONLY TO COOL DOWN ONCE AGAIN BEHIND A BACK DOOR COLD FRONT NEW YEARS DAY. && .DISCUSSION... STRONG UPPER TROUGH CURRENTLY MOVING ACROSS THE CWA. TEMPS AT 5H AS COLD AS -33 C. WHICH HAS DESTABILIZED AIR MASS AND ALLOWED SOME SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE GILA AND SACS TO FORM...EVEN SOME VIRGA/POSSIBLE LIGHT SHOWERS OVER DESERTS. WINDS HAVE REACHED ADVISORY CRITERIA MANY LOCATIONS SO FAR...BUT NO WARNING LEVEL WINDS IN EL PASO/HUDSPETH COUNTIES YET. GREATEST WIND PARAMETERS STILL TO COME FOR THOSE AREAS THOUGH. EAST SLOPES ARE NOTORIOUS FOR STRONG DOWNSLOPE WINDS IN THESE SCENARIOS. THUS WILL LET NPW/HWW RIDE FOR NOW. COLD AIR MASS WILL REMAIN A COUPLE OF DAYS AS MINOR SHORT WAVES FRIDAY AND SATURDAY WILL NOT BE ENOUGH TO MIX OUT COLD AIR TOTALLY. UPPER RIDGING SHOULD BOOST TEMPS TO ABOUT 5 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL BY SUNDAY. UPPER RIDGING CONTINUES WITH A VIGOR NEXT WEEK...BUT STRONG TROUGHING OVER NATIONS MIDSECTION IN RESPONSE TO RIDGE PUMPING UP OVER SOUTHWEST WILL FACILITATE A HEALTHY BACK DOOR COLD FRONT WHICH PUSHES THROUGH LATE NEW YEARS EVE TO OPEN 2008 ON A NIPPY AND BREEZY NOTE. HAVE CARRIED BATON FROM PREVIOUS FORECASTER BY CONTINUING TO GIVE A LOWER LATITUDE WEAK UPPER TROUGH SHOWN BY GFS/DGEX VERY LITTLE ATTENTION. JUST A MODEST INCREASE IN CLOUDS MIDWEEK. HOWEVER IF IT IS REAL...IT MIGHT PROVIDE SOME MOISTURE TO BE LIFTED ISENTROPICALLY OVER THE COOL DOME OF SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE IN AREA AROUND THAT TIME FRAME. SOMETHING FOR THE MIDNIGHT MAN TO PONDER (SAME GUY WHO LEFT IT FOR ME) WHO WILL PROBABLY LEAVE IT FOR NEXT DAY SHIFT TO PONDER. && .AVIATION...VALID 28/00Z-29/00Z GENERALLY VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED THROUGH THE PERIOD. HOWEVER...THERE WILL BE MVFR AND BRIEF IFR CONDITIONS IN THE SACRAMENTO MOUNTAINS THIS EVENING DUE TO SNOW SHOWERS. SURFACE WINDS OF 20 TO 30 KTS WITH GUSTS NEAR 40 KTS WILL CAUSE A FEW AREAS OF BLOWING DUST WITH VISIBILITY LOCALLY LESS THAN 2 MILES. THE STRONG WINDS WILL ALSO CAUSE AT LEAST MODERATE MECHANICAL TURBULENCE THIS EVENING... ESPECIALLY ALONG THE EASTERN SLOPES OF AREA MOUNTAINS. WINDS WILL DIMINISH TO LESS THAN 20 KTS BY MIDNIGHT. VFR CONDITIONS WITH GENERALLY LIGHT WINDS EXPECTED THE REST OF TONIGHT AND FRIDAY. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... EL PASO 25 47 24 53 33 / 0 0 0 0 0 SIERRA BLANCA TX 22 44 21 54 30 / 0 0 0 0 0 LAS CRUCES 25 47 23 53 30 / 0 0 0 0 0 ALAMOGORDO 21 43 19 56 26 / 0 0 0 0 0 CLOUDCROFT 13 32 11 42 16 / 10 0 0 10 0 TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES 22 45 20 58 25 / 0 0 0 10 0 SILVER CITY 14 39 13 50 24 / 0 0 0 0 0 DEMING 20 45 19 55 28 / 0 0 0 0 0 LORDSBURG 21 47 20 55 29 / 0 0 0 0 0 && .EPZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NM...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 9 PM MST THIS EVENING FOR NMZ022>025-030>032. TX...HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 9 PM MST THIS EVENING FOR TXZ055-056. && 01 FAUSETT/21 PARK
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM 743 AM MST THU DEC 27 2007 NMZ022>025-030>032-TXZ055-056-281445- SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS/LOWER GILA REGION-SIERRA COUNTY LAKES REGION- TULAROSA BASIN/SOUTHERN DESERT-SOUTHERN SACRAMENTO MOUNTAINS- SOUTHWEST DESERT/BOOTHEEL-SOUTHWEST DESERT/MIMBRES BASIN- SOUTHERN DESERT-EL PASO-HUDSPETH- 743 AM MST THU DEC 27 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEW MEXICO...SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO AND SOUTHWEST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AN APPROACHING UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM WILL GIVE US VERY STRONG WINDS TODAY. WINDS WILL INCREASE DURING THE LATE MORNING AND WILL THEIR FASTEST SPEEDS IN THE LATE AFTERNOON. WIND SPEEDS OF 35 TO 45 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60 WILL BE POSSIBLE IN FAR WEST TEXAS WHILE SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO WILL SEE 30 TO 40 MPH WINDS WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH. THE WINDS MAY CAUSE BLOWING DUST WHICH WILL REDUCE VISIBILITIES FOR DRIVERS ALONG AREA ROADS AND HIGHWAYS. THE WINDS SHOULD BEGIN TO DIMINISH AFTER SUNSET. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO SIGNIFICANT WEATHER EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Winds gusting to around 60 mph broke windows in downtown El Paso and knocked down power poles elsewhere in the city.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, December 2007
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 72056.